Dustin Mulvaney
@dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
10K followers 1.4K following 2K posts

Professor, Environmental Studies🌎 San José State University @CalState.Bsky.social Fellow, Payne Institute @ Colorado School of Mines, Climate & Community Institute @cplusc.bsky.social, Switzer Network. www.dustinmulvaney.com 📍Popeloutchom, Monterey Bay 🌅🦦 .. more

Environmental science 33%
Energy 20%
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dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
Don’t go chasing waterfalls.

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
We were already at 178.3%. Plus, we had some good rain in September! Grasses are like three or 4 inches tall .. it’s gonna be an emerald green winter for California grasslands.

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
Highly recommend San Vicente redwoods in these conditions.. the mushroom flush will brilliant. I found a newspaper article that claims it rained 100 inches up there winter. s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/craft-landtr...

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
We got about 1 inch in our gauge today.. puts us over 1.5 inches for the water year which is about 450% of average. #CAwater #CAwx
robmayeda.bsky.social
Updated rain totals to 9pm: tops going to the Santa Cruz Mtns and even down into San Jose … solid soaking for most during a time of year the daily averages are .01” to .05” 😲 @nbcbayarea #BayArea #BayAreaStorm 10/13/2025

Reposted by Dustin Mulvaney

robmayeda.bsky.social
Updated rain totals to 9pm: tops going to the Santa Cruz Mtns and even down into San Jose … solid soaking for most during a time of year the daily averages are .01” to .05” 😲 @nbcbayarea #BayArea #BayAreaStorm 10/13/2025

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
😂 the solution to the edit button is just a really quick delete and repost.

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
Super sad, the 20 I put in there is pretty optimistic. Most of the talks I hear say it’s only 10. Conflicts with fishing nets. Unacceptable, I think.

Reposted by Dustin Mulvaney

inquiline.myatproto.social
Whole 🧵 here from @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social

I looked at MMPA in Oil Beach, from the angle of shipping & military off the CA coast. Here's an unfortunately deceased fin whale on a huge cargo ship, entering the Port of Long Beach in 2008 (📸 Alisa Schulman- Janiger); & vessel density nearby
NOAA diagram showing heavy shipping traffic in San Pedro Bay where the ports of LA and Long Beach are located dead whale on the bulbous bow of a cargo ship. it's very hard to convey scale of these huge ships

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
Meet the Vaquita. This is how I close lecture. By presenting an animal with only 20 or so individuals left in the Gulf of California. Facing extinction. What should the commercial interests be doing? What should the governments be doing? Are they doing enough?
Extremely handsome dolphin/porpoise https://earth.org/vaquitas-facts/

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
@unpopularscience.bsky.social waiting for you to help flank the argument. ❤️🐟🐡

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
An indicator for a horrible socio-ecology is how many dolphins are slaughtered for no good reason.
dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
Before the marine mammal protection act, millions of dolphins and porpoises died in nets as bicatch from commercial fisheries around the world. That is not a typo. Millions died. The first year of the MMPA in 1972, there were over 400,000 incidental takes from the US tuna fleet alone.

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
Great observation. No, that’s why they’re talking about offshore wind up there or wind from Wyoming and that’s how PG&E was able to justify one of their big micro grid projects.. there’s def not enough transmission up there.

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
Many of the CT’s in California are at their air pollution/NOx limits. They can’t run more if they want without special permission. But I think the real answer is, there’s not enough power in the urban areas, bottlenecks near Los Banos keep SoCal clean energy in SoCal.

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
Speaking with a leading expert on PFAS chemistry tomorrow if you have any questions about fluoropolymers and the fate of toxic foreverchemicals and stuff.

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
This was apparently one of the largest search and rescue operations in US history, and the plane was never found.

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
Significant plane crash electorally by the way.. a special election put Republican Don Young in the seat and he held it for almost 50 years, longest serving house member in US history.. promoting oil and gas and fishing industries.
dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
The proposal to “modernize” the MMPA was drafted by Rep. Nick Begich, ironically nephew of Rep. Nick Begich Sr., who while in office supported many early environmental laws including MMPA and died in a plane crash in Alaska in 1972 with House majority leader Hale Boggs, father of Cokie Roberts.

Reposted by Dustin Mulvaney

meadekrosby.bsky.social
If you haven't seen it yet, it's a good night to watch FISH WAR, the award-winning 2024 documentary about Northwest Tribes defending their treaty fishing rights through years of civil disobedience protest.
Poster for the documentary, "Fish War," highlighting its selection at several film festivals.

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
Rudely interrupting thread with another animal protected by the marine mammal protection act..
Sea otter and a baby sea otter, sea otters have no blubber so when the oil and gas industries fuck up the water and their fur they can’t survive

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
Stormwater waterfall, Mitchell’s Cove #CAwx

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
That would be oil and gas!

The MMPA has a very robust precautionary standard. So while endangered species act listing is helpful because it extends considerations to polar bear habitat and offers agency consultation, the MMPA standard offers greater protections because Congress intent is clearer.

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
The endangered species act protects the polar bear, and it’s diminishing sea ice habitat, but did you know the polar bear is a marine mammal, and gains additional protections afforded from the MMPA?

(guess what industry doesn’t like rules against the polar bears??)

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
I told my students there was a popular television show about a dolphin that could communicate with people that gained widespread popularity, and they all just stared at me.

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
And despite getting tangled in GATT/WTO disputes, through many amendments and supporting legislation, the MMPA has helped bring that number of incidental takes below 1000. Still unacceptable in my view, but it’s not one million dead dolphins anymore and that’s largely thanks to the MMPA.

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
Before the marine mammal protection act, millions of dolphins and porpoises died in nets as bicatch from commercial fisheries around the world. That is not a typo. Millions died. The first year of the MMPA in 1972, there were over 400,000 incidental takes from the US tuna fleet alone.

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
The proposal to “modernize” the MMPA was drafted by Rep. Nick Begich, ironically nephew of Rep. Nick Begich Sr., who while in office supported many early environmental laws including MMPA and died in a plane crash in Alaska in 1972 with House majority leader Hale Boggs, father of Cokie Roberts.

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
They got rid of incidental take permits altogether under the MBTA.

dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
Today happened to be our Marine Mammal Protection Act lecture in Environmental Law, so I revisited case law / key issues.
There are at least three major industries that benefit from undermining the MMPA: commercial fishing and seafood, maritime transport and shipping, and the oil and gas industries.
dustinmulvaney.bsky.social
Republicans are aiming next to dismantle the marine mammal protection act, which protects whales, dolphins, manatees, polar bears, and sea otters.. among other ocean wildlife. 🦦
splitrailfence.bsky.social
I love it. Makes me happy.
Weird that I'm now seeing your post here after I just read about the bill to end the 1970s marine mammal legislation to protect these beautiful creatures.
abcnews.go.com/Politics/wir...

Reposted by Dustin Mulvaney